help with mark IV tone...

[deafmybullet]

i just recently purchased a mesa mark IV head and am looking for some help on getting the sound i want out of it. this is my first tube amp, so i'm rather new to figuring out how to get certain tones out of it. i know lamb of god uses these heads and i am looking for the killer distortion they get out of them.

i know these amps sound better when turned up, but in doing so, the volume gets ridiculously loud. i was wondering if a power brake might help my situation and if so, who makes a good power brake?

any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

 

[zeppman]

While I've never tried a power brake, one widely practiced method of at least taming the volume of a tube amp while getting it to sound somewhat decent at lower levels is to turn each individual channel volume rather low, and adjusting the master volume to taste. This at least gets the power tubes involved. Obviously the more master volume, the more you work the power tubes, which is key in getting a great tube amp tone.

 

[TonyBar3]

I recommend a Tom Scholz Power Soak. You can get one on ebay or buy one new. You can pick your impedence from 4, 8, or 12, which is nice. And it's got I think 10 different attenuation levels. It's what I use with my Mark III, and I like it.

 

[RussB]

Seeing as you're new to this amp, give it some time BEFORE you buy up accessories. There are so many tonal variations in your amp, you need to explore them, not add more options!

That's my .02, and I'm sticking to it!

 

[ned]

Check the settings database on the main site - www.grailtone.com look under Tone Settings.

 

[GenoBluzGtr]

I have a MK IV WideBody Combo. It takes some time to get this amp dialed in.
I have had mine for over 9 months, and gig with it nearly weekly. I am still "finding" my settings.

Yes the amp does get quite loud, and it can be frustrating when you have to turn down to keep the stage volume and mix right.

I have used a THD Hotplate with some success, but lately, I found that I could get the right tone using my Keeley TubeScreamer in the FX Loop. I set the TubeScreamer for a minimal gain, but use the pedal to "tame" the volume of Channels 2 and 3 (Rhy2 and Lead). The FX Loop is programmable so that the Pedal is only used when I activate those channels on my footswitch. When I use Ch 1, it is pure amp with no pedal.

I find this setup preferential to the Hotplate, since I did notice a big difference in my Clean (Channel 1) that I couldn't quite fix with the Hotplate on. This way, I am only "attenuating" the other two channels and my clean stays pristine and fat like I want it.

I play classic rock, blues and country, so I don't want the gritty, spitty, grainy distortion that comes from increasing the preamp tube gain. I dislike the "rectifier" style distortion, but prefer the sweeter, "cleaner" blues-style, power-tube driven overdrive. I do prefer my MKIV with a bit more volume to get that singing, sustaining, lead tone, but it isn't worth the griping and arguing with the rest of the band or the sound guy to do it.